Argentina's River Plate completed the most remarkable transformation in the team's history on Wednesday when they beat Mexican club Tigres 3-0 to guarantee their third-ever Libertadores Cup triumph.

The win came four years after the Buenos Aires club were relegated for the first time in over a century and means that under the stewardship of Marcelo Gallardo they now hold both of South America's top club competitions, having won the Copa Sudamericana in December.

'I'm incredibly happy for the fans who are enjoying this party,' said Gallardo, a midfielder with the River team that won the 1996 Copa Libertadores title. 'And we are going for more now.'

River Plate players celebrate with the trophy after their 3-0 victory over Tigres in the Copa Libertadores final on Thursday night

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Midfielder Leonardo Ponzio added: 'The history of this club is about fighting for these kind of competitions. Today is the greatest that you can achieve as a club and we did it.'

Lucas Alario, the 22-year old striker who only joined the club in July, got the opener on the stroke of half-time when he dived to glance home a curling cross from Leonel Vangioni.

Carlos Sanchez was felled in the penalty box after 74 minutes and then hammered the spot kick past Nahuel Guzman before Ramiro Funes Mori guaranteed the victory when he rose to head home a corner four minutes later.

The result gave River a 3-0 aggregate victory after the first leg in Monterrey ended scoreless. The match was scrappy with 44 fouls and nine yellow cards, but River were superior throughout in constant rain and heavy conditions at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires.

Nahuel Guzman looks on helplessly as Alario's header flies past him and into the bottom-right hand corner of the net to give River the lead

Guzman shows his frustration at his defence after Alario crept in to head home River Plate's opener

The 22-year-old signals to the crowd after giving the Argentinian outfit the lead on the stroke of half-time at the Monumental Stadium

Alario (left), who only joined the club last month from Colon, celebrates with team-mate Nicolas Bertelo (right)

Carlos Sanchez hammered a spot kick past Nahuel Guzman to all but seal victory for the Argentinian outfit with 16 minutes remaining

The 30-year-old wheels away in celebration after doubling River Plate's lead against Tigres on Thursday night

Sanchez removes his shirt as his goal meant River Plate took a giant stride towards the 2015 Copa Libertadores Cup

Ramiro Funes Mori put a gloss on the scoreline when he rose to head home a corner four minutes later

River Plate players celebrate on a bus after defeating the Mexican outfit with a convincing display on Thursday night

A River Plate fan shows his support during River Plate 's victory over Tigres on Thursday evening

The result gives River their third Libertadores title, the South American equivalent of the Champions League, following triumphs in 1986 and 1996 and means they will travel to FIFA's Club World Cup in December.

River won the tournament in spite of being the last-placed of the 16 teams that qualified for the knock out phase in April.

They only advanced into the quarter-finals after their arch rivals Boca Juniors were disqualified from the tournament when a Boca fan attacked River players in the tunnel at half time in the second leg.

They lost the home leg of the quarter-finals against Cruzeiro but destroyed the Brazilians 3-0 in Belo Horizonte, before overcoming Paraguayan side Guarani, the surprise package of the competition, in the semi-finals.